Imagine you’re walking down the street and notice a wallet lying on the ground. You pick it up and open it to find identification, credit cards, and $1,000 in cash.
For a moment, you might feel tempted to keep the money. After all, nobody saw you pick it up.
But then you realize that someone probably lost it—and they may be desperately looking for it.
So what should you do?
Step 1: Don’t Take the Money
The first thing to do is leave the contents of the wallet together.
Don’t remove the cash, credit cards, identification, or anything else.
Even if you’re tempted to think, “I’ll just take some of it and return the wallet,” that can create additional problems and make it much harder to demonstrate that you tried to return everything.
Step 2: Look for Identification
Check whether the wallet contains something that can help identify its owner.
You might find:
- A driver’s license
- National identification card
- Work ID
- Business card
- Membership card
- Contact information
If you can identify the person, contacting them directly may be the quickest way to return the wallet.
Step 3: Don’t Publicly Reveal Everything Inside
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